BEIJING (AFP) – Chinese newspapers, books and websites will no longer be allowed to use English words and phrases, the country's publishing body has announced, saying the "purity" of the Chinese language is in peril

BEIJING (AFP) – Chinese newspapers, books and websites will no longer be allowed to use English words and phrases, the country's publishing body has announced, saying the "purity" of the Chinese language is in peril.

The General Administration of Press and Publication, which announced the new rule on Monday, said the increasing use of English words and abbreviations in Chinese texts had caused confusion and was a means of "abusing the language".

Such practices "severely damaged the standard and purity of the Chinese language and disrupted the harmonious and healthy language and cultural environment, causing negative social impacts," the body said on its website.

"It is banned to mix at will foreign language phrases such as English words or abbreviations with Chinese publications, creating words of vague meaning that are not exactly Chinese or of any foreign language," it said.

"Publishing houses and the media must further strengthen the regulated use of foreign languages and respect the structure, glossary and grammar of the Chinese and foreign languages."

GAPP said companies which violated the regulation would face "administrative punishment" without offering specifics.

They are also often used in everyday conversation, and government officials routinely use the abbreviations at press conferences.

The body left a small loophole, stipulating in the regulation that "if necessary", English terms could be used but must be followed by a direct translation of the abbreviation or an explanation in Chinese.

The names of people or places in English also must be translated.

One editor at a Beijing publishing house told the China Daily that the new GAPP regulation could actually result in reduced understanding.

"The intention of protecting the Chinese language is good. But in an age of globalisation, when some English acronyms like WTO have been widely accepted by readers, it might be too absolute to eliminate them," the editor said.

"Conversationally, people also use these words all the time, so the regulation could create discord between the oral and written uses of language."

China has launched several campaigns in recent years to try to root out poor grammar and misused vocabulary in official usage.

Sometimes those campaigns go awry, resulting in awkward Chinglish. In the run-up to last month's Asian Games in Guangzhou, signs were posted in the metro that read "Towards Jichang". "Jichang" means airport.

Earlier this year, China Central Television and Beijing Television told the China Daily that they had received notification from the government to avoid using certain English abbreviations on Chinese programmes.

But English abbreviations are still commonly heard on regular news and sports broadcasts.

The Global Times quoted an editor at a Beijing publishing house as saying finding translations for globally used acronyms would be time-consuming and confusing.

"I wonder how many people understand 'guoji shangye jiqi gongsi', when IBM is instantly recognisable," the editor said.

Last edited by Heruka on Sun Jan 02, 2011 8:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

BOSTON (Reuters) – This story might be epic, and could even go viral, but not if Lake Superior State University has anything to do with it. Just sayin.'

The small college in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, released on Friday its annual list of "banished words" -- terms so overused, misused and hackneyed they deserve to be sent to a permanent linguistic trash can in the year ahead.

"Viral," often used to describe the rapid spreading of videos or other content over the Internet, leads the list for 2011.

"This linguistic disease of a term must be quarantined," Kuahmel Allah of Los Angeles said in making a nomination.

Hmmm. I hope their efforts at suppression don't lead to frustration and violence.

I remember the French tried something similar - it failed miserably. Imagine a country the size of China with all its linguistic and cultural diversity - can't see it working.

I also remember the Welsh trying to keep their language alive by inventing words for modern society. Most were English words with a spelling variation, like 'ambiwlans' for ambulance, but the Welsh language succeeded in surviving against a fairly brutal suppression by the English. Children were beaten for using Welsh etc. It may be that the best way to preserve Chinese is to assimilate key western words rather than seek any suppression.

It may be very hard for the Chinese to reject western languages and culture when they manufacture many of the goods which support western lifestyles, and with which their own people are familiar, including the names etc.